Robert ‘Pointy’ Clarke shares his insights on his preferred choice of Talon clips for making installations speedy, safe and looking good.
Robert Clarke, aka ‘pointy_plumber’ on Instagram, runs PPH Services in Birmingham and has been in the plumbing business for over a decade. He knows a lot about pipe clips and he was good enough to share his thoughts and advice on a variety of different clips and accessories.
Back in the mid 1980s, Talon started manufacturing the ‘Talon Hinged Clip’. 30 years on, it remains one of the company’s best-selling clips. These are the clips Pointy uses most often. The clips offer a 360° fixing for all pipes including PEX, Copper, MDPE and PVC pipework for increased security, are manufactured using polypropylene and all sizes can be connected together.
They are available in black, white, grey, chrome and even gold effect for a vintage look but also have an Identification Range to clearly indicate a pipe’s contents: yellow for gas, red for hot water and blue for cold water. Sometimes installers will lift floorboards or open cupboards and be faced with a maze of pipework. But instead of having to trace each one back to the source, installing Identification Clips makes it straightforward for anyone working on the pipework to identify which pipes are carrying what around a house.
“The clips I most commonly use are the Hinged Clips in black and white, sometimes yellow for gas obviously. When selecting the clips, I always try and think what the best aesthetic will be based on colour or style,” explained Pointy.
“I love the Hinged Clips for linking together in doubles which allows me to use the Talon trunking to protect people from hot surfaces. I also know that when spaced correctly they’re incredibly robust and hold the pipe securely, especially when marking out or soldering pipework – they have just enough grab before clipping them down.”
Time saver
Navigating tight spaces while installing pipe clips can be a complicated feat: it is awkward, there is limited space and its tricky getting into the right place. Here, the EZ Joist Clip has been designed to be a time and energy saver.
“EZ Joist Clips are fantastic when working under floors and hanging pipework in voids. Screwing the clips in from the side is a lot easier than trying to reach underneath with your cordless. They’re also great for holding pipe centres straight through holes when used on a flat surface,” Pointy continued.
MDPE clips are ideal for all types of domestic installations; they are UV stabilised so won’t discolour and won’t warp or distort from temperature fluctuations. For larger setups requiring multiple parallel runs, the clips’ can be linked together thanks to the dovetail design.
“35mm MDPE clips are the perfect size for holding inch and a quarter solvent weld waste pipes which I usually use for condensate runs. It makes installing a long-distance length so much quicker because you can ping a single line from start point to finish point and draw your clips in before having to fit the pipe,” Pointy explained.
Even gaps
Reducers work with Hinged Clips to allow a smaller pipe to be installed within a larger clip. The Link Spacer fits between two Hinged Clips to set them a standard distance apart. This allows for an even gap between clips when fitting pipe lagging, adds uniformity to pipework and looks good.
“I did a system change where the boiler was in the loft several meters away from the old airing cupboard and used Talon’s Link Spacers to mass produce the clipping distances which made installation a lot more straightforward.”
Pointy also loves the standard Universal Spacer which fits to the base of all Talon Hinged Clips, MDPE clips and Snap-in Open Clips, adding 13mm clearance from the fixing surface.
“The Talon Universal Spacers really stand out, pun intended, as keeping pipes straight with different depths of surface you can space the clips away from the surface to keep a constant line.”
Pipe clips do more than just hold pipes in place; they’re essential for safe, easy and efficient work. As Pointy illustrates, picking the right clips and accessories can make plumbing jobs smoother, tidier and more durable, and they help everything look great too.
